Our Practice

As the Founder and Executive Director of JJAC, Adam has both lived and professional experience in the Criminal Justice Field. Adam grew up in  a broken family and became a gang member when he was 13 years old, being introduced to the  gang and criminal lifestyle by his older brother and uncles. Adam lived a lifestyle of crime, drug  abuse and gang involvement, which resulted in him first  being arrested at the age of 14, throughout his adolescent years, and ultimately for a gang related crime at 17  years of age. Adam was tried as an adult, and sentenced to 15 years to life, of which he served 22 years. Since Adam’s return to his community, he has volunteered in various capacities, including mentoring youth and adult gang members, as well as advocating for more equitable and just laws  effecting juveniles and minorities in California. As a Legal Consultant, and expert, he has been qualified in California Courts as a Gang, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Carceral Systems (both Juvenile and Adult), and Rehabilitation Expert, testifying or consulting on complex cases throughout California since 2017, from Juvenile to Adult gang allegations, self-defense, transfer hearings, sentencing mitigation, CDCR Homicide, and Heard Petitions resulting in new transfer hearings for juveniles tried as adults, and Federal Cases. He is also a Mitigation Specialist, authoring over 75 Franklin Hearing Mitigation Reports for CDCR Youthful Offender Parole Hearings. He was a Reintegration Case Manager- Flintridge Center, and Life Coach/Inside Coordinator- Anti-Recidivism Coalition, which included teaching Board of Parole Hearing Preparation, which he authored, for those sentenced to life sentences on Maximum Security Facilities in The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Independent Forensic Gang Expert | Substance Use Disorder Counselor | Crisis Intervention Specialist 

Born in East Los Angeles in 1973, Gilbert Bao is a respected Independent Forensic Gang Expert and Substance Use Disorder Counselor with more than two decades of experience in community healing, violence prevention, and rehabilitation. He  provides expert analysis, testimony, and consultation on gang-related legal matters for attorneys, public defenders, and courts throughout California. 

Mr. Bao’s early life was shaped by systemic adversity, childhood trauma, and firsthand involvement in gang culture. He was sentenced to life in prison following a gang-related conviction. During his 21-year incarceration, he underwent a personal transformation. He earned his high school diploma, pursued college-level education, became certified in substance use counseling, and facilitated evidence-based self-help and restorative justice programs across multiple California prisons. His work included educating at-risk youth and leading therapeutic groups addressing violence, trauma, mental health, and addiction. 

Mr. Bao has continued his life’s mission to serve communities affected by gangs, mass incarceration, and addiction. He returned to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation—not as an inmate, but as a counselor—dedicated to supporting others on their journey to recovery and reintegration. 

He applies his lived experience and professional training to provide accurate, credible gang-related expert opinions in criminal proceedings, and demystify gang culture, assess gang validation practices, and advocate for fair and informed legal outcomes. 

Robert Hill – Youth Intervention Specialist, Credible Messenger & Gang Intervention Mentor

Robert Hill is a Youth Intervention Specialist, credible messenger, and gang intervention mentor with more than five years of direct experience serving justice-involved and gang-involved youth within Los Angeles County Secure Youth Treatment Facilities (SYTF). Robert brings a powerful combination of professional training, institutional experience, and more than 35 years of lived experience as a formerly gang-involved and formerly incarcerated individual. His background provides him with the credibility and insight necessary to build meaningful relationships with young people who are often among the most difficult to engage through traditional systems.

Robert's work is centered on transformative mentoring, gang intervention, violence prevention, rehabilitation, and successful community reintegration. Within Los Angeles County's SYTF facilities, he provides intensive one-on-one mentorship, facilitates self-help and group programming, supports individualized case planning, and works collaboratively with Probation staff to help youth identify and achieve their rehabilitative goals.

His experience extends beyond traditional mentoring. Robert has provided case management and supported the development of individualized education and rehabilitation plans, including IEPs and IRPs, based on each young person's strengths, needs, and circumstances. He has also advocated for incarcerated youth during court proceedings and multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings, helping ensure that their progress, challenges, accomplishments, and rehabilitative needs are understood by the systems responsible for their care.

Robert's extensive lived experience is central to his effectiveness as a credible messenger. Having personally experienced gang involvement, incarceration, and ultimately transformation, he understands the pressures, relationships, identity issues, and environmental conditions that can contribute to gang involvement. He uses those experiences to establish trust while challenging young people to take accountability, reconsider destructive patterns, develop healthier identities, and recognize that their past does not have to determine their future.

Robert has completed extensive professional training relevant to working with high-risk and justice-impacted populations, including Urban Peace Institute Credible Messenger Training, Developmental Stage System Training, Seeking Safety, The Council for Boys & Young Men facilitator training, One Circle facilitator training, Mental Health First Aid, Alternatives to Violence facilitation, and Substance Abuse Prevention and Control opioid-prevention training. He is also a Registered Alcohol and Drug Technician and Certified Recovery Specialist, with additional training in trauma-informed services, crisis response, substance-use prevention, mandated reporting, PREA, HIPAA, CPR, and First Aid.

Robert's ability to combine credible-messenger mentorship, gang intervention, case management, behavioral support, recovery services, and systems advocacy makes him particularly effective with young people facing significant barriers to rehabilitation and successful reentry. He understands that meaningful gang intervention requires more than encouraging youth to stop engaging in harmful behavior; it requires helping them develop new relationships, identities, coping strategies, opportunities, and a genuine sense of belonging outside of gang culture.

Through his direct work inside Los Angeles County's juvenile justice system, Robert brings JJAC substantial frontline experience and a demonstrated ability to engage gang-involved and justice-impacted youth at critical turning points in their lives. His work reflects JJAC's commitment to providing community-rooted, culturally responsive, and credible mentorship that helps young people move from incarceration and gang involvement toward accountability, rehabilitation, successful reentry, and long-term stability.

Maria Elena Greeman-Lynde grew up in the Coachella Valley and established herself in San Diego in 2011. As a community college student, Maria Elena used her personal experience with the criminal legal system to empower individuals from previously incarcerated and marginalized groups; by providing resources and giving sound to their voices. She is the co-founder of the Urban Scholars Union at San Diego City College, and has also sat on the California Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights. She if the former Justice Impacted Community Liaison for the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties where she supported the National ACLU's Smart Justice Campaign. 
Maria Elena is currently the Founder and CEO of Homegirlz del Corazón Inc., which provides opportunities for women coming from communities of color who have been impacted by poverty, violence, addiction, gang involvement, and incarceration to be empowered through healing, self-actualization, and by recreating their own personal narrative of resilience. 
Maria Elena is currently utilizing her lived experience through a holistic approach to support those inside our juvenile legal system as a Program Coordinator for Youth Development, her new role with Juvenile Justice Advocates of California. Her work has included weekly facilitation of Project With curriculum at East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility and CGA (Criminal and  Gangs Members Anonymous). Maria Elena has created the curriculum, A Homegirlz Guide to Self-Love. In August 2023, Maria Elena will began facilitating at YTC (Youth Transition Campus) with the hopes to empower our young women to begin healing their core experiences that have led them into the juvenile system.

Chris Story is a community leader, gang intervention specialist, mentor, and Certified Human Services Case Manager with more than 15 years of experience serving justice-impacted youth, formerly incarcerated individuals, gang-involved populations, and underserved communities throughout Los Angeles County. Raised in the communities he now serves, Chris combines professional expertise with lived understanding and the credibility necessary to engage individuals facing significant barriers to employment, stability, and successful community reintegration.

Chris has particularly deep roots in the Pasadena and Altadena communities. He spent nearly a decade as Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at Flintridge Center in Pasadena, where he worked extensively with formerly incarcerated and justice-impacted individuals. His responsibilities included Los Angeles County jail in-reach, individualized case management, reentry planning, workforce development, employment readiness, and connecting participants with employers and community-based resources. His work helped hundreds of individuals transition from incarceration toward employment, stability, and successful reintegration.

Chris's Pasadena-area leadership also includes longstanding involvement with the Pasadena-Altadena Vision 20/20 steering committee, where he has contributed to community-based efforts addressing violence prevention, intervention, employment, and opportunities for individuals and families impacted by systemic inequities.

His gang intervention and youth development experience extends across multiple community-based organizations. Chris has served as an outreach worker, facilitator, and consultant with Live Above the Hype, providing violence-prevention, decision-making, mentoring, and life-skills programming. Earlier in his career, he worked with Outward Bound Adventures as a lead instructor and gang interventionist, using mentorship, leadership development, and experiential programming to build resilience, discipline, self-worth, and positive identity among young people. He has also facilitated programming with 2nd Call and Amer-I-Can, supporting individuals through life-management, employment-readiness, violence-prevention, and personal-development services.

Chris's ability to build authentic relationships with gang-involved and justice-impacted individuals is central to his effectiveness. His approach combines credible mentorship, gang intervention, individualized case management, workforce development, and sustained reentry support, recognizing that long-term change requires more than a single program or intervention.

Through his extensive Los Angeles County and Pasadena experience, Chris brings JJAC significant community relationships, intervention expertise, and practical knowledge of how to engage individuals at critical turning points and connect them to meaningful pathways toward employment, stability, and long-term success. 

Alwin served 21 years in CDCR after receiving a sentence of 65-years-to-life as a third-striker. While growing up, his male role models were cousins who glamorized the gang culture, and Alwin followed their lead into the destructive lifestyle of gang membership. During his time of incarceration, he came to recognize the devastation caused to others through his criminal behavior and irresponsible thinking. In 2007, he committed himself to renewing his way of thinking and behaving, including a fundamental reshaping of his values, attitude, and daily goals. Over the next 14 years, until his release in 2021, he participated in an array of groups and programs to facilitate his personal growth and readiness for bringing a positive impact to the outside community when released. He also facilitated and prepared lessons for small groups, assisting others in understanding and addressing their hurts, habits, and hang ups. These achievements, among many others, led the Secretary of the CDCR to petition the court for resentencing. He currently facilitates rehabilitative programs at East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility and Youth Transition Campus in San Diego, as well as at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Detention Facility in Los Angeles.